Topic: Modeling the Spread of Infectious Diseases - Measles and Influenza as Examples

Lecture time：at 14:00, April 1, 2016

Lecture place：F424, New Main Building

Lecturer: Assitant Professor Daihai He   Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Abstract： Emerging and existing infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, Ebola, avian and human influenza, and Zika virus, pose huge burden on the human society. In this talk, I will give a brief introduction to the mathematical modeling of the spread of infectious diseases.  Through two famous examples, measles in the pre-vaccination era and the 1918 influenza pandemic, I will show the beauty and power of mathematical modeling and likelihood-based inference techniques.

Biographer：

     Dr He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dr He holds a PhD in Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University and a Ph.D in Mathematics from McMaster University, Canada. Dr He's expertise in advanced mathematics and statistics has helped improve our understanding of the spread of viruses among human population. Dr He’s works on influenza got wide media attention, including reports from Cable News Network (CNN), New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Hong Kong Daily News, PolyU Excel and PolyU Milestones.